…do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
(Rom.2:4)
You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
(Acts 20:20-21)
When Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg Castle, the first thesis read: Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ … willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance’. It’s strange that something previous generations of Christians considered so all-defining finds so little traction amongst us. The image of a preacher calling for repentance is reserved for the eccentric, street corner, self-proclaimed prophet. And our caricature of such a ‘prophet’ is likely deranged, and certainly loveless. For us ‘repentance’ sounds faintly medieval; it feels like a bitter after-taste of days when the Church lost balance and fell into narrow-minded legalism, and moralistic judgmentalism. Thankfully we’re past all that now …right?
And yet even the most cursory reading of the Bible – or even just the NT – is enough for us to realise that repentance remains absolutely core to the Christian faith. It is the first word of Jesus’ public teaching (Matt.4:17), and it is amongst His last (Lk.24:46-47), and it is central to the preaching of the Apostles (see e.g. Acts 2:38; 5:31; 11:18; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20). Throughout both Old and New Testaments, repentance is seen to be a crucial aspect of what it means become a disciple of Jesus. It is the word that describes a turning from sin to God. It is the exercise of faith, or at least it is part of the same dynamic as faith. Some scholars distinguish faith (turning to God) from repentance (turning from sin). Others make that point that turning to God is turning from sin (I Thess.1:9-10). Either way, it is intrinsic to the act of becoming a Christian, and as such is embedded in the liturgy of baptism, (Do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour? I repent of them).
Over the years, Bible teachers have worked hard to capture the different elements of authentic repentance, seeking to distinguish it from superficial counterfeit experiences. It is possible to be sorrowful for (the consequences of) sin, or to regret a course of action, without that constituting repentance. King Saul’s tears (I Sam.24:16), are not indicative of genuine repentance, and neither are Esau’s, or Judas’ (Heb.12:16-17; Matt.27:1-5). As one old preacher put it: a stony heart can be broken into a thousand pieces, and each piece remain a stone. In the somewhat archaic language of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, true repentance is rather: ‘… a saving grace (Acts 11:18) whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of their sin (Acts 2:37-38) and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ (Joel 2:13) doth, with grief and hatred of their sin, turn from it unto God (Jer.31:18-19) with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience (Ps.119:59)’.
More contemporary theologians speak of: a changed way of thinking (that leads to): heartfelt sorrow and shame for sin (including our self-righteousness and Christless morality, Phil.3:7-9), taking responsibility for sin, confession, renouncing sin, looking to God for forgiveness in Christ, commitment to forsake sin and to walk instead in obedience to Christ, making restitution for sin where possible. It is something that affects every aspect of our being. Our vision of reality disintegrates, as our perspective on everything changes.
Importantly, repentance remains central to our experience of being a Christian throughout life. The old Scottish preacher, Thomas Boston (1676-1732) wrote: ‘the heart is first smitten with repentance for sin at the soul’s first conversion to God, and the wound still bleeds, and is never bound up to bleed no more until the band of glory be put about it in heaven’. We repent of sin for as long as sin remains part of our experience. This not a qualitatively different experience, but a maturing and intensifying of what we experience when we first become Christians. As our awareness of our sin deepens, so too does our repentance. As our love for God grows, and our desire to be like Him in every respect matures, so does our repentance. As our appreciation of grace develops, so does our repentance. Such is the way of Christian discipleship from start to finish. Our life is a turning away from sin and a re-turning to God.
Questions
Why do you think that God doesn’t remove sin from us as soon as we become Christians?
Does an emphasis on repentance threaten our sense of self-worth and self-esteem? …or our sense of being loved and valued by God? Why / why not?
Do you think repentance is genuine if you again commit the sin that you have repented of?
Read II Cor.7:8-13
How do you feel about Paul’s willingness to rebuke the Corinthian Church (v.8)? Do you think this is an example that pastors should follow today? …or was it something that only Apostles should think about doing?
Do you think that repentance is essential to becoming and living as a Christian? Is repentance always accompanied by ‘sorrow’ (v.9)?
Can you share your own experience of repentance? Does it match the description of repentance listed here? Do you think it should? How has repentance lead to a change in the way you live?
How would you describe the difference between ‘worldly sorrow’ and ‘godly sorrow’ (v.10)? Why do you think ‘worldly sorrow brings death’?
Why are the Corinthians experiencing the range of emotions and objectives laid out in v.11? Do you think this is a healthy spirituality?
Is Paul being manipulative in seeking to expose how devoted the Corinthians are to him and those associated with him (v.12)?
Memory Passage:
Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live … Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Is.55:3 & 6-7
For further reflection:
How do we (in partnership with the Spirit) go about cultivating a spirit of repentance? Perhaps we have never thought of repentance as such a critical aspect of Christian experience? Or perhaps the constituent facets of repentance have faded over the years so that they are no longer prominent? Or maybe our misunderstanding of grace, or our presumption has meant that we have never really understood the necessity for it. Whatever the reason for its neglect, how do we (re-)ignite a passion for this lost art?
We might think that in the call to ongoing repentance, we are being invited to a severe introspection, that we should focus in on ourselves and on our sin. Perhaps we think that we must dwell on the self-destructiveness of sin, or the prospect of death and judgement. In fact, it is often not our anticipation of judgement, so much as it is our longing for the holy purity of the New Creation. It is often not anxiety about God’s anger at sin, but the appreciation of His love and grace. It is often not a fear of alienation, but a longing for greater intimacy with our God that leads to contrition and repentance.
And far from repentance being a severe or crushing experience, born out of a crippling sense of the austerity of God, it is born out of our passionate love for God and our desire for Him and for all that He is for us in Christ. Genuine grief over sin flows from genuine pleasure in knowing God, and contrition comes from realising that our sin prevents us from knowing Him more fully and being like Him more completely. Only when we are truly captivated by the beauty of holiness will we hate the ugliness of sin. It is after all, His grace that ‘teaches us to say No to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly live in this present age’ (Titus 2:11-12).
